Sometimes It's Better to Be Wrong
by restinpace
Summary: I found this on my computer and decided to post it. It was supposed to be 3 chapters, but I can't remember what was in the other two, so it's just going to be a oneshot. It takes place in the Season 3 finale.


**Disclaimer: JJ, Damon, and Carlton made "Lost". I didn't. Thank you for your attention.**

Sometimes It's Better to be Wrong

"C'mon, Claire," said Hurley. "We have to start going to the radio tower."

Claire didn't answer. She was staring at the blanket in Aaron's cradle.

"Claire?" Hurley asked gently, "Are you okay?"

She didn't look up.

"Look, Charlie is going to be fine," he said.

"No, he's not," she whispered.

"What?"

"I said he's not," she said louder. She quickly crossed over to the cradle and picked up the ring. She shook it in front of Hurley's face. "Do you know what this is?"

"Of course," said Hurley, taken aback. "It's Charlie's ring."

"Exactly," said Claire. "And he _never _goes anywhere without it. Why would he leave it by Aaron now?"

"Well, y'know," said Hurley. "Maybe he just put it there for safekeeping, so it wouldn't get rusty or something."

"No," she took a step closer to Hurley. "He's going to die; he _knows _he's going to die."

"You don't mean," said Hurley in a choked voice. "You mean...Desmond? You think he had one of those flashy-things again?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," she shrieked. "Where's Desmond? We have to stop them."

"It's too late," Hurley said resignedly. "They already left, I saw them."

Claire deflated. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

Just then Juliet came by.

"Claire, we have to be going. Don't worry about Charlie, he'll be fine."

Claire growled and suddenly slapped Juliet in the face.

"Shut-up," she said.

Juliet walked away looking hurt and bewildered.

"Dude, I think you seriously confused her. But she's right, there's nothing we can do for Charlie; let's go."

Claire got up and slowly joined the group. But not before she tucked Charlie's ring into the pocket of her jeans.

As she walked with everyone to the radio tower all she could think of was Charlie. Why would he go down if he knew he was going to die? How was he doing now? And above all, _why _had Desmond not stopped him? If Charlie died, and he probably would, she would never speak to Desmond again.

She remembered all the time she had spent with Charlie over the past months. She remembered the good times and she remembered the bad. She realized it had been foolish of her to push Charlie away over what seemed now to be such a foolish misconception. Obviously, Charlie wasn't using drugs. How could she have thought so? Her determination to keep Charlie away from her and Aaron had caused her to waste some of the precious, little time she had with Charlie. She regretted her decision a hundred times now.

She recalled Charlie kissing Aaron and telling him that he loved him. _He must have slipped the ring in then, _she realized. If only she had realized it then! She could have stopped him from going. But then he would have died in another way, a way he wouldn't get to sacrifice himself for the good of her, Aaron, and the rest of the Oceanic 815 survivors. _This is how he would want to die. _She saw Charlie talking to Aaron again. Saw how his eyes lingered on her when he said "I love you," before going back to Aaron. She realized he was telling her that he loved her too. At this thought she had to hold back her tears.

All these thoughts about Charlie gave her a somewhat glazed appearance and several people asked her if she was alright. She mutely nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The people wandered away, chalking it up to her worry for Charlie. _How right they are, _she thought.

They stopped on a ridge when it got dark. They could see the beach, and their camp, from on it. They watched two explosions go off but there was a sudden pause, and the third one never came.

The camp erupted at this, but Claire could barely bring herself to care. She knew she should be feeling horrible, after all Sun –whose husband was back at camp- was her good friend, but all she could think of was Charlie. A sort of numbness had seized her; she felt devoid of any emotion.

Before long Jack got the group under control and they continued their trek to the radio tower. As they walked, Claire just staring at the ground, the sky slowly became lighter.

After a few hours they halted again. It was at that point that Sawyer decided to leave the group and go back to camp. Claire was glad he was offering. It made sense for someone to go back and check on Jin, Sayid, and Bernard. Jack, however, didn't agree. They continued arguing until Juliet told Jack about the hidden stash of guns. Jack relented then, and after Juliet and Sawyer turned around he urged the remainder of the group onward.

Finally, the group crested a hill and saw two people come up the opposite side. It was two people she didn't recognize but Jack sure did. He and the man, Benjamin Linus as he introduced himself, went off to have a talk. It was then that Claire noticed that Hurley wasn't behind her like he had been for the entire trip until now. Claire vaguely wondered where he was, but didn't waste too much time dwelling on it. She had better things to worry about, Charlie for one.

While Jack and Benjamin were gone, the girl with Benjamin, who introduced herself as Alex, ran to Karl and hugged him.

Claire felt a sharp pain as she saw this. It wasn't fair that they should be so happy while she suffered, not knowing Charlie's fate. She recognized Alex as the girl who had helped her escape from Ethan. She remembered how she had used this girl to convince Rousseau to help her and sure enough Rousseau was staring hungrily at Alex.

Just then, Jack threw down Benjamin in front of the survivors. Benjamin's face was bloody and Jack looked like he was about to cry.

"Tie him up. He's coming with us," said Jack.

Claire was surprised at this. She was even more surprised when Benjamin introduced Alex to her mother. This trip seemed to be full of surprises. She wondered again where Hurley was off to.

The group began walking again but after less than half an hour they were interrupted yet again. This time, by the walkie in Jack's back pocket.

"_Attention Others, come in Others. If you're listening to this, I want you to know that we caught you bastards. And unless the rest of you want to be blown up, you'd best stay away from our beach."_

Jack took the walkie out with a bemused expression. "Hurley?" he asked.

"_Jack?"_

"Where are you? What's going on?"

"_Dude, I'm at the beach." _Well that was one mystery solved.

"What?"

"_Yeah, I went back to help Juliet and Sawyer, I- I saved them."_

"They're okay? Juliet- ?"

"_Everyone's fine: me, Sawyer, Juliet, Sayid, Jin, Bernard. We're all safe."_

"Bernard and Jin and Sayid, they're with you?"

"_Yeah dude, I told you, I saved them all." _Everyone cheered at this, and Rose and Sun hugged each other. Claire was very happy for them.

"Hey," said Jack. "Stay where you are. We're almost up to the tower. I'll speak to you there."

_Yeah, I gotcha, we'll stay put so we can – you know, go home." _There were more cheers at this. Claire almost felt happy. She grabbed the walkie from Jack.

"What about Charlie? Did he make it back yet?"

"_Not yet, but they're probably paddling home as we speak. Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine." _Hurley sounded truly happy; apparently he had forgotten what Claire had found before they left. She felt a sinking feeling at the thought of Charlie's ring, and all happiness vanished.

They resumed their hike, and Claire resumed her thoughts of Charlie. Why had she never appreciated him? He was a wonderful man and would have made a wonderful father for Aaron. She again recalled Charlie's declaration of love to Aaron _and her_. She realized that she loved Charlie too. She loved everything about him, his corny jokes, his goofy smile, the way he lit up around Aaron. Now she would never be able to tell him that she loved him back. He was never coming back. He would die down in that station. He would die with Desmond.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Aaron crying. She rocked him gently back and forth but he wouldn't quiet down.

Naomi came over to her and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I don't know, I think he's just upset."

"I don't blame him," said Naomi. "Hey, what's your boyfriend's name? The rock star who swam down to the station?"

"Charlie," said Claire. "Why?"

"Charlie just got us rescued."

Claire felt a surge of hope. Maybe Charlie _would _be back safely.

**I don't remember Ben and Claire ever meeting, so I didn't make her know him. PLEASE R&R!**


End file.
